SiteExperts Leaders Meet

For all my friends at www.siteexperts.com - Here is the OFFICIAL POST for my trip to meet with fellow web-developer Bryan Katz - otherwise known as Holophrastic. We all know him and love or hate him, I hope you enjoy my short blog about him and my visit with him in Toronto.


This is the hotel where I stayed; the Rennaisance in downtown Toronto. "Holo" was waiting for me inside the lobby.


This is Bryan (lounging in a fine chair in my "first" room) with a vase filled with a beautiful arrangement of the "Bird of Paradise" flower which he brought for me. I am so flattered to have such a fine arrival greeting gift :)


"First we MUST go the University" said Bryan - I played along and went. It was tremendous to see the fine architechture. I had Holo take a few shots of me from "the perfect spot" which I had set up the location and said "please stand exactly right here and make sure to get 'that' in the shot" and then I asked him to "press here" (as I pointed to the shutter...) He did so well!

I then made Bryan drive around with me to capture the CN Tower from as many angles within the city as possible in a very short time frame. Will post these shots later!

Now on to in the city. We still have a little time left before our dinner reservation so Holo shows me around town emphasizing the "light pollution" which I am completely intrigued by. Writing this now, after my meeting with the Nashua Astromomers Club meeting I can now appreciate his canderous statement.

Taken from CN Tower

Here is a super cool picture of OLD and NEW Toronto:


Which is right near where we fed our bellies a city street "appetizer" in prelude to the gourmet dinner we would soon be eating...

Guess which hot dog was mine?! (If you guessed the one on the left - you are right!)

Better head to the TOWER to "See the Sites" (robin-ann.com humor)

Before we enter for dinner there is a cheesy setup for "memory shots" for tourists to purchase - the two working looked hip so I protested slightly and then asked the girl with the camera if she would mind just snapping one with my camera... She agreed! and I told Holo the glasses were just too empty to have sitting on the table for the shot "as is" so "tip them upside-down!" I said. It's so dumb that they are empty!" - and viola! A perfect memory of us together. Thank you Holo :)


We did the skypod before eating...

Which if you remember the pic from above - the city goes on for miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiles. (more than I have shown! - get these for facts: Toronto is approx. 7288 sq.km to be exact - including Mississauga so about 84km in either direction - in the US that would be 2814 sqmi. Uh - that's big. )

The wine was yummy



and Holo was a perfect gentleman.

LAST STOP - Tim Horton's

Here - in the birthplace of THE MAN who started it all... was my introduction... and christening... to YES - TIM HORTON's.

OMG - If you don't know about Tim Hortons well by golly you are not a Canadian! Because EVERYONE in CANADA knows about Tim Horton's. Maybe not the the man and his legacy - but definately the coffee, the donuts, the pastries, the sandwiches, the...

...mega orgasmic fuel oozing from the bowels of this place...

It puts Dunkin Donuts to shame and is a step above Starbucks (Just not in price). And I had the AWESOME privelige to experience THE ONLY LOCATION with pictures of Hockey Legend and Founding Father Tim himself!

Take a look. The young man admiring prints and memorabilia in the first photo is bound to be one of Mr. Horton's greatest fans and was my dedicated guide to Cochrane. I am so lucky! You may recognize him from the photo's in earlier posts.






Just another note about this... You heard me right - this Tim Horton location is THE ONLY ONE with photo's of the hockey star... now we all are wondering - WHY!

What REALLY goes on in Cochrane Ontario

No Foolin' - This is what you do in Cochrane Ontario... because why else are you there?

Dinner! (and new friends :)

JR's is THE only place to eat in town if you are in for just one night. Ribs - Fried Munchrooms - and an Irish Coffee that will make you sing on your barstool! Take my word on it. And Mr. John Wayne likes it all the way up here in the Great White North too, big fellah... !

Polar Bears

This part of my trip was a complete joy. I was fortunate enough to gain access to the Polar Bears in Cochrane, ONTARIO. The first shot here is all three of the bears, Nanook, the large male on the left and his lifemate Arora to his left. Nakita is sitting next to both of them.



In the next picture, Aurora gave us all a surprise when she stood on two paws for us. This is very rare indeed.



And finally, while inside the protective first layer of fencing, I was up close and personal with Nakita who stuck her tongue out at me first, then to my left she gave the 'ol rasberry to Katie, the assistant director of these very special polar bears.

The Cochrane Story - Scene I

It all began as a trip to Cochrane Canada. I was to photograph a client subject and was given an address and information that Cochrane was near Toronto.

Here is an image of some friends I spied upon while waiting for the gate to open for boarding.



Mr. Decker on the left gave me the "Visual Contract" to begin taking photos of him and his group. And here you can see Mr. LaBelle was pleased to be involved with me on the plane ride. Our Sr. VP of Sales and Marketing was kind enough to take the shot with my camera.

SiteExperts Leaders Meet

Two members of the SiteExperts Community of Developers will be meeting in the CN Tower. For more details please read: http://www.siteexperts.com/forums/getMessage.asp?m_id=83123

AT LAST - LINKLOAF LIVES!

Good, Bad and Ugly - My life should all be somewhere so a proper set of memoires can be ascertained for anyone wishing to ascertain them. My life is full of surprises, trips, pitfalls, peaks and plateaus. I will excercise your mind, body and spirit. I love you for loving me - and I love you for hating me too. You are why I am here and now You will live on with a piece of me which I have shared with you.

Live. Love. Laugh.

Robin Ann